Waste as a Commodity

      When discussing waste disposal, we often neglect to consider the contents in question. This particularly has struck me as I researched the place of trash in other countries and the ways in which they utilize these valuable resources, discovering a commentator named Barun Mitra. He wrote about how, in India, an incinerator was built in 1986 in the urban center of Dehli which completely failed. A $10 million facility that cost the government around $100,000 annually to burn garbage without producing a lick of energy, all due to the trash's content. In the poorer cities of India, they did not produce the same kind of waste as other urban centers. Sure, there was plenty of it, but the caloric content was a mere half of what a Western city would generate. This example not only highlights the ways in which differing streams of waste can impact its utilization, but also the role that wealth can play in the garbage scene.  

      MacBride discusses this aspect of waste disposal, proposing that our current forms of trash management unfairly target those of color and low socioeconomic status. This makes perfect sense in retrospect, but I had never considered the correlation. Much of the minority demographic migrated to urban cities in the last century, large cities produce a lot of trash, that trash needs to be disposed of, burned for energy, etc. and who takes those jobs? People who desperately need work to provide for their families. I have often advocated for the workers in the waste field, but never had I thought to analyze the socioeconomic factors which may lead a person into this particular industry. MacBride also reveals the back breaking work undergone by these workers, the fact that they are shoveling and sweeping in, most likely, poor conditions for little pay, lifting, pushing, sorting, etc. all in an effort to stay afloat in the ever constant flow of trash and economic pressure.

      Economic pressure is another aspect of Mitra’s article, with him delving into the idea that waste can be considered a commodity, to be traded along with other such entities on the free market. He discusses how the differing waste streams flowing out of differing countries could provide for a new dynamic in the global market and the ways in which legislation such as the Basel Convention, which is designed to eliminate the transport of hazardous waste across national boundaries, are stifling innovation in this sector (At this moment I would like to note that the Afghanistan, Haiti, and the United States have signed the Convention, but have yet to ratify it). Now I’m not necessarily advocating for outsourcing waste disposal or shipping the US’s hazardous waste over to India, but I believe that Mitra’s concept of waste as a commodity and a potential economic stimulus is an interesting one and one which must not be overlooked when weighing the options regarding waste disposal.

PS: Eric, please don't tear this apart